The Estate of Philip K. Dick vs. Google
Dave U. Random
As Google Inc. launches its Nexus One phone, one call that
the company hasn't made is to the family members of science-
fiction author Philip K. Dick, who complain the device's
name infringes on one of Mr. Dick's most famous novels.
"We feel this is a clear infringement of our intellectual-
property rights," said Isa Dick Hackett, a daughter of Mr.
Dick and the chief executive of Electric Shepherd
Productions, an arm of the Dick estate devoted to adapting
the late author's works.
"Our legal team is dealing head-on with this," she said
Tuesday. An attorney for the estate declined to elaborate
on what legal steps it has taken.
Mr. Dick's 1968 novel, "Do Androids Dream of Electric
Sheep?," which served as the basis for the 1982 cult film
"Blade Runner," follows a bounty hunter chasing androids
known as Nexus-6 models.
Ms. Hackett believes Google referenced that work in coming
up with the name for its new phone, but the company never
called her family or attorneys for permission to license
the name...
Continued: http://xrl.us/DickG
Works of Philip K. Dick: http://xrl.us/PDKbooks (Amazon.com)
thang ornithorhynchus
I hope PKD's daughter wins. PKD however would have been chuffed at
the direction technology has taken - he was one of the few early SF
writers to focus on future man and invasive technology, rather than
spaceships, stars, aliens.
thang